


keep moving

by Skyepilot



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Angst, Dialogue, F/M, Jiaying mention, Male-Female Friendship, Mouth-to-Mouth, Near Death Experiences, Soulmates, Starcrossed Lovers, Trauma, Unresolved Romantic Tension, mirroring, mothers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-24
Updated: 2017-05-24
Packaged: 2018-11-04 08:34:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 784
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10987323
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Skyepilot/pseuds/Skyepilot
Summary: Post S4 fic written for youcantouchlola.





	keep moving

 

It's not so much the memory of the thing that came before it, although that is clearly etched into his mind.

A kind of darkness that felt familiar, creeping closer as he slipped away.

Not for wanting of the embrace, but aware, always, in the back of his mind, at its inevitability.

How solid the floor felt beneath him, and then, that too was gone.

Waiting, then, waking, breathing in a stolen breath.

No. Not stolen. _Given_.

By Daisy.

It's the second time he's been returned to this life, by someone else's hand.

This time, it does feel miraculous.

Not the rewriting of flesh and bone, which could be called a miracle.

He can't even start to explain it, only knows the breath in his lungs is not his own.

And yet it is.

Words lost to him, but something deeper than speech can express has pulled him back.

" _Coulson_."

The feeling of her shaking fingers register on his face, an anchor, as he takes in another breath, this time on his own.

It's not a dream. It's real.

He can't even seen her through light shining down on him from behind her. A simple silhouette in blue halo.

But he would know her anywhere. Her sounds.

The quiet mixture of tears and relief bring to mind a memory. Another time, when he was slipping away, but not gone.

He was grateful then, naked with it.

Oh, what he didn't know then that he does now.

" _Daisy_."

Her name carried on his own breath, wrapped in a smile, makes her go still.

Unable to disturb this thing between them.

There is distance that's physical. And space and time, which he might argue are both immutable or unknowable at this point.

Then there is _this_.

A place that exists outside of it (or maybe inside).  Who is to say?

His mother still sings him Happy Birthday, there. Always young.

Daisy is there, too.

She always was.

  
###

  
"Coulson!"

She slides to the floor to be beside him, and he's fading.

Fast. And maybe it's the blue light, but he's _so pale_.

She's not sure what that weapon did to him, only how she feels looking at him now.

Whatever rational part of her that is left buckles.

This is not a thing her powers can handle, or her SHIELD training, and she rips away her gauntlets and tosses them aside.

The familiar, again. Him slipping away, while she watches, holding onto him.

She wants to tell him not to leave her, but she's the one that left.

Tilting his head up, she kneels over him, and pushes a breath into him, sees his chest rise.

It feels too selfish, and small. She never had to explain it to him, which makes her smile and fight back tears.

His eyes are wide open, but she can tell already that he's not there.

Because she _knows_ him.

Pulling open his flack suit, his shirt, she sees the scar for the first time, and crosses her hands over it, where his heart is.

Is this what he looked like while he was in the Framework? She wasn't there to wake him.

This Kree weapon might've done something far worse, because he's different.

 _Special_. Coulson has always been special.

So different, from all the others. The only constant she's known.

Her hands press down over his chest, like she remembers. Steady.

Coulson is special in her life and she's fought so hard.

The rotten center of everything.

She covers his mouth with hers again, and breathes.

The pressure in her chest is aching, with a part of her that wants to scream, or cry, but she can't.

It's trapped, and suffocating, and she starts to feel her vision go dark around the edges.

"Your gift is quite destructive, but look at the music you can make."

Her mother's voice.

The Kree have tried to take from her. They put this inside of her, and now...

Hand over his heart, she focuses. She lets herself go deeper, closing her eyes.

He's still there. She can feel him.

Putting her mouth on his. Breathing for them both now.

" _Daisy_."

  
###

  
"Do you need-?"

"Not at the moment. Are we in more danger?"

"Don't think so. I took care of it."

"Good. Are you okay?"

"I'm kind of...a mess?"

"No. You're not, Daisy."

"Thanks. This....feels familiar."

"Yeah, it does. Like being in the same place, but, moving at the same time?"

"I hope you're not going to explain spacetime to me. I don't think I can handle it."

"No. It's not something that's a theory at this point. For me, anyway."

"Me neither. What should we do?"

"Keep moving?"

"I'd like that." 

 


End file.
